...And you wonder why I drive an HHR Panel
 

I ran across this 50 year old photo recently. It's me with my 49 Pontiac sedan delivery in high school. I guess my HHR is my lame attempt at re living my youth.

how cool is that! :lol:

Very cool, my dad had a '56 F100 Panel and I wanted that truck.

Pontiac Panel
 

lasater,
Care to tell us what kinda activities went on in the back of that panel? :cool::lol::D

Mo

Why I drive a HHR Panel?
 

Wow, looks like the one I drove in 1962.

Long story short:
I went to work one morning and the boss asked me to drive a load of flowers/garden plants up to Sault St. Marie, Michigan. Seems his regular driver had a heart attack.

I was just 19 and worked at a greenhouse in St. Louis, Michigan. I had never driven across the Big Bridge and it was a 6-7 hour drive to the Soo.

Well I did it and on the way back the brakes went out about 1 1/2 hours from work. I was lucky to not be going very fast and was able to come to a rest on the shoulder. And luckily there was a gas station less than a mile from where I stopped.

The tail pipe had been rubbing on the brake line. The mechanic fixed it and I was back by 6:30. They said the boss was biting his nails all day. Later that fall when everyone was laid off, I was asked to stay. Wow that is 53 years ago............

Boydie

I noticed it said Riverside on the panel.. Haven't traveled to far from home have you? lol

Wow that is really cool. I love the rear fender look and those fat meaty tires and hey great looking wheels that are still being copied to this day:twothumbs:

That is so Old School Cool! I like the radiused rear fenderwells. What powerplant did the Pontiac Panel have- a straight 8 ? I can't see you driving anything but a Black HHR Panel...john

Yeah, it came with a straight 8. We dropped a stroked 389 with tri-power and a beefed hydro. Those American Torque Thrust wheels are real magnesium, long before aluminum alloys. Those rear wheel wells were radiused by hand.....I still can't believe they came out halfway round. The rear tires measured 12" across.....huge for the day. Cheater slicks with 1 groove down the center. Took it down to T.J. (Tijuana Mexico ) for a solid black naugahyde interior. It ran pretty well for a car that weighed roughly the same as a Sherman tank. Probably got 4 or 5 mpg. Not a concern in the days of 36 cent gas. (Standard Custom Supreme. ..white pump 104 octane)

Love It!

That is an awesome ride, set the way back machine Sherman, to Coolsville, man!

That's Ole School Cool!:cool::thumb:

It was state of the art when I built it!

I like Pontiacs. My first car was a 55 Pontiac Chieftain, 2 door sedan with a 287.3 ci engine with a 4speed Hydromatic and it would chirp them in all 4.:thumb:

You ever think of customizing your HHR to look like a panel that Pontiac would have made?

A friend of mine suggested that several years ago but I like the HHRs cleaner lines. The '49 Pontiac hood had a chrome strip on it that was 7 or 8 inches wide and an Indian hood ornament that had an amber Indian face that lit up when the lights were on that looked pretty cool at night tho......

Cool old ride ~ ~ !!